Writers and poets from
around the world have joined in mourning following the news that Professor Kofi
Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet and diplomat, died after sustaining injuries during
the terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
Professor Awoonor, who
was 78, was in the city to participate in the Storymoja Hay Festival, a
celebration of writing and storytelling. He was due to perform on Saturday
evening as part of a pan-African poetry showcase.
Professor Awoonor’s
death was confirmed by the Ghanaian High Commission in Nairobi in the early
hours of Sunday morning. One of the main aims of the Festival is to encourage
reading and literacy among Kenya’s young people.
A statement issued by
the Festival said: “We were honoured to be graced by his appearance at
Storymoja Hay Festival, and deeply humbled by his desire to impart knowledge to
the young festival audience. Professor Awoonor was one of Africa's greatest
voices and poets and will forever remain a beacon of knowledge and strength and
hope.” The Festival was brought to an end on Saturday evening "in sympathy
with those who have lost their lives or were injured" and for the safety
of attendees.
Professor Awoonor was
joined by his countrymen at the four day event, in what he called “the best
representation of Ghanaian authors that we have ever had”. Among them were poet
Nii Parkes and writer and film-maker Kwame Dawes. Both paid tribute to
Professor Awoonor on Twitter, with Parkes writing: “I muse on gifts given and
swiftly taken away. I waited my whole life to meet my uncle, Kofi Awoonor, and
2 days later he is gone.” Dawes posted: “Kofi Awoonor's death is a sad sad
moment here in Nairobi. We have lost one of the greatest African poets and
diplomats. I've lost my uncle.”
Warsan Shire, a
Somalian poet who was due to speak at the Festival, tweeted that Professor
Awoonor was “one of our greatest poets”.
Book blogger Kinna
Reads congratulated Professor Awoonor for his command of language, saying “He
spoke Fanti as fluently as Ewe”. Professor Awoonor’s early poetry was heavily
influenced by the dirge-singing traditions of his native Ewe tribe.
Professor Awoonor’s
first collection, Rediscovery and Other Poems, was published in 1964, and he
wrote three subsequent collections and a prose poem between then and 1971.
Following his incarceration for helping a ‘political criminal’ in the
Seventies, Professor Anoowor wrote mainly non-fiction. He became an important
diplomat for Ghana, and was the country’s Ambassador to the United Nations
between 1990 and 1994.
Earlier this year it
was announced that The Promise of Hope, a collection of Professor Awoonor’s new
and selected poems from 1964 to 2013 will be published in March 2014.
* Courtesy of THE
TELEGRAPH
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